Lionel Gallat, a 15 years old veteran in the animation department who worked for DreamWorks and Universal Studios (‘Despicable Me’, ‘Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron’, ‘The Lorax’) has decided to turn his attention to video games. His first project? ‘Ghost of a Tale’.

So what is it about?

“[In 'Ghost of a Tale'] You play as a mouse on an adventure set in a medieval world. At the beginning of the game, you get to the Island of Periclave. Now what is the mouse looking for? What happened on the island? Why are there undead rats roaming around? That will be up to you to discover.”

“What’s known is that the island has long been a disputed outpost for the Army of the Rats. But today, it is reputed to be haunted. And tales are talking about a fabulous treasure high up in the Tower of Periclave. But it would be folly to try and get there. Even for a mighty warrior. And this little mouse certainly doesn’t look like one…”

So is it an action/adventure, or RPG, or… what?

A bit of both, actually. Gallat tells us that “[we] shouldn’t expect a straight monster-bashing action game. Nor should [we] expect a purely cerebral adventure game with no elements of action at all. The game will be a mixture of both genres (most commonly referred to as action-adventure with a hint of RPG).”

Past role-playing games like the ‘Gothic’ series, ‘Legend of Zelda’, ‘Ico’, and ‘Dark Souls’ have all been an inspiration to creating ‘Ghost of a Tale’.

The game will be a PC-only title (though Linux and Mac versions are a possibility in the future), and is expected to be released in the first half of 2014, though the game might be pushed back to the end of 2014. It will be a DRM-free game, and a closed beta is planned for December 2013.

Any final words?

“My goal is to craft a small yet beautiful game with environments that look a bit like movie sets and characters that have a sense of stylization in their design, while retaining a certain simplicity and immediacy as far as gameplay is involved,” Lionel Gallat.

If you want to see this game released, then head on over to its Campaign page right here. More screenshots below.